Here’s the beginning of my latest post about faith, religion, and/or scripture, with a link to the rest of it. Below it you’ll find everything else, arranged in these categories: Faith, Inspiration, and Discipleship; Explaining the Mormons (Latter-day Saints); and Exploring Scripture. If you like something you read, please click the Like button below it. If you don’t, don’t.
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The Latest
He Was Something: A Tribute
I went to a funeral this week. I was about to tell you where, because it matters, but it seems to matter more that it could have been many places other than the place where it was. It could have been almost anywhere. It was something.
In the foyer of the church were tables displaying artifacts of my uncle’s life. There was his army uniform, a simple, coarse garment with corporal’s stripes and a single short row of campaign ribbons. There was a small, thick binder full of cartoons he clipped from newspapers over the years. There were photos from every phase of his long life. My favorite had my mom in it, with the rest of the siblings and my grandparents. She’s been gone twenty years now, and the photo was from a time before I knew her.
I should probably tell you his name, and I will at the end. But for now it seems important that the man I’m describing could have many names, including the name of someone near you.
Everything Else
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About Me
I’m a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I won’t complain if you use the nickname Mormon. By my definition (not everyone’s) I’m a Christian. Whatever you call yourself, you’re welcome here. I write to explain and inspire, if I can; to discuss and explore — not to proselyte.
My writings are sometimes apologetic, in the sense of reasoned argument justifying or defending my faith by explaining it. But I make no apologies (in the conventional sense) for having faith, for having a faith, or for presuming to discuss and ponder.
A Bit More Chatter
“Faith without works is dead,” James said. I’ll buy that. Here are some other postulates:
- Faith without brain cells is mostly dead, too, but probably doesn’t know it.
- Yesterday’s faith is of little use today.
- Faith and action are not contradictory concepts.
- Thinking and believing are not mutually hostile activities. They are the most natural and necessary partners in the universe.
- Sometimes Latter-day Saints (Mormons) need to be translated, before what they do or say makes much sense to other people, even other believers. I do some of that here.
Favorite Links
- Given Breath-
Kimberly Joy Hall is a thoughtful Christian and a fine writer -- in other words, irresistible.
- Scriptures at ChurchOfJesusChrist.org-
Excellent online versions of the King James Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. They're heavily footnoted and cross-referenced, and some good tools (Study Helps) are available too.
- BibleHub-
I use BibleHub mostly to see different translations of Bible passages -- it offers more than two dozen English translations -- but it also has commentaries, dictionaries, concordances, sermons, the Apocrypha, and more.
Disclaimer
Disclaimer: I am in no way or degree an official spokesperson for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or its leaders. They don’t tell me what to write. They don’t tell me what not to write. I’ll take credit for any errors here. If you find any truth here and care to give proper credit, please aim it far, far above my pay grade, where it belongs.
From the Author
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